1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cutter especially adapted for cutting carpet tiles in a quick and accurate fashion. More particularly, it is concerned with such a carpet tile cutter which is particularly designed for rapidly cutting terminal pieces of carpet to be inserted between field carpet tile and an adjacent baseboard.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of carpet tiles as opposed to conventional roll carpeting has significantly increased in recent years. Such carpet tiles are generally square segments of carpeting having a rubberized backing. Installation of these carpet tiles is generally very quick and rapid, owing to their ability to simply be placed on a floor with only certain of the tiles being actually adhesively secured to the floor surface. From the user's standpoint, carpet tiles of this type are particularly advantageous, inasmuch as individual tiles can be readily replaced if they become soiled or damaged.
However, the installation of carpet tiles in and around baseboards or upright wall surfaces does present a significant problem. That is to say, while the field of tiles can be laid in a very quick and rapid fashion up to a point adjacent a baseboard or the like, normally it is necessary to cut an individual tile to a specific dimension required to fill the space between the exposed edge of the adjacent field tile, and the baseboard. The typical approach used by installers in the past has been to measure the exposed floor surface and, using a straight edge or carpenter's square and a utility knife, simply cut a tile to provide the desired insert.
This technique of time cutting is of course very labor intensive and slow. The magnitude of this problem can be ascertained when it is realized that carpet tiles of the type under discussion may commonly be laid in large commercial installations, and as a consequence the time and labor involved in trimming the edge tiles represents a significant portion of the overall installation cost.
Accordingly, there is a real and unsatisfied need in the art for an efficient apparatus for the cutting of carpet tiles, particularly in instances where terminal tile sections are needed between field tiles and a baseboard or wall.